promises and british political gambling. >> the palestinian arabs expect to finally be granted their own nation. but the jewish population expects the same thing. the seeds for jerusalem's next great conflict have been planted. ♪ ♪ hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the united states and all around the world. you are watching "cnn newsroom." across the u.s., the delta variant is fueling a large surge of patients admitted to hospitals, with some running out of space or staff to keep up. despite the rising case numbers, canada is reopening its boarder to american traveler it is they are fully vaccinated. and greece is struggling with a rash of wildfires spurred on by

an unrelenting heat wave. good to have you with us. the u.s. is grappling with an alarming new reality, as covid numbers are skyrocketing once again. raising months of progress and containing the virus. according to johns hopkins university, the u.s. is averaging more than 100,000 cases per day, the highest numbers in six months. covid hospital admissions are also at their highest points since february, with staff and a number of states overwhelmed and space for new patients running out. what's also concerning is how the virus is affecting young people. >> we don't have rigorous data to show for sure that they are, but i certainly am hearing from

pediatricians that they're concerned this time the kids in the hospital are both more numerous and more seriously ill. we'll have to get better comparisons to be sure of that. we do have evidence that delta may be more serious for older folks, as well. >> health officials describe the current uptick as a pandemic of the unvaccinated. and warn that further vaccine hesitancy could allow for more dangerous variants to emerge. also, u.s. regulators are getting closer to giving full approval to the nation's covid vaccines. but dr. anthony fauci thinks now is the time for local leaders to start requiring vaccinations. >> and i believe that some people on their own, once it gets approved as a full approval, will go ahead and get vaccinated. but for those who do not want, i believe mandates at the local level need to be done.

>> this new covid wave comes as american children are already headed back to school where some of the most fiery political debates are raging over mask mandates. >> so i asked the legislature to redo the law that prohibited those requirements or those options for the school districts to protect the children. and so it was an error to sign that law. i admit that. >> things have become so bitter that officials are pleading with other decision makers to turn down the political rhetoric and embrace the importance of vaccines and masks. >> to those who are making policies that are preventing this, don't be the reason why schools are interrupted, why children can't go to extracurricular activities. we need to do our part as leaders to make sure that they have access to the decisions that they need to make to get

their students safely back in school. >> meantime, cases in the state of florida are surging, hitting a new record high last week. the state's health department reported more cases than any other week in the pandemic. averaging more than 19,000 a day. florida's governor is doubling down on a ban against mandatory facemasks in schools. a cnn medical analyst says the rest of the country may need to consider a ban of its own. take a listen. >> it's so high in florida, i think that if florida were another country, we would have to consider banning travel from florida to the united states. he needs to understand that he's painted himself into a corner. people are dying in florida. it's going to get much worse. the hospitals are filling. >> children, as well. >> and as of a few hours ago, people in the u.s. who are fully

vaccinated now have one more option when it comes to leaving their country. but as paula newton explains, it doesn't work both ways. >> reporter: it's official now. despite the rising incidents of the coronavirus in the united states, canada has now reopened its border to fully vaccinated americans and u.s. residents. that is the first time in more than 16 months, and there are family reunions and americans who haven't seen their canadian properties in months. they can now cross at the land border. what's interesting is that the biden administration has not reciprocated. if you are canadian and you are traveling for non-essential reasons, you can't cross at the land border. although in what has functioned more as a loophole, canadians have been able to go to the united states by air since the pandemic started. canada itself is now dealing with what can that's top doctor says is the beginning of a fourth wave, with a level of

vaccination in canada is now so high, that many public health officials say it is time to safely reopen the border, and that begins with fully vaccinated americans, fully vaccinated international visitors should be able to enter canada in september. paula newton, cnn, ottawa. across the pacific region, the delta variant is putting many people back under lockdown. an uptick prompted china to impose strict restrictions. they reported 125 new infections monday, most locally transmitted. in vietnam, social distancing measures are in place for at least another week in some areas. the country posted a record number of new cases sunday. almost 9700, according to state-run news. and the philippines posted its highest daily death toll since

early april. manila is under strict lockdown as new cases sore. we're joined now live from beijing. let's start with the situation in china. what is the latest? >> reporter: you mentioned the latest figure from the government, but this one number local officials are watching very closely, but also increasing is the number of locally transmitted cases because of the government's zero tolerance policy towards those cases. that number stood at 102 recorded on sunday. obviously still pails in comparison to what we are seeing in many parts of the world, but in this country, that is unacceptable. so your seeing local officials being punished or even sacked when there's a new cluster of cases emerge in their jurisdiction. you are seeing authorities adopt more stringent containment

measures, increasingly dra moan can lockdown measures and travel restrictions in and out of beijing, which is the host city of the upcoming winter olympics six months away. and they're having some questions or even suggestions from prominent chinese experts that a government may want to rethink its approach to adopt some of the concern governments have been doing, trying to live with the virus. that notion seems to have been harshly rejected. the former health minister is lashing out say thing is a reflection of people's shortsightedness, and pointing to what he calls utter failures in western government's approach and saying the government should stick to its current approach and strengthen it, including border closures. >> what more are you learning about other nations across asia,

how they're responding to these rising delta varniant cases and hospitalization? >> reporter: that's right, especially in southeast asia, we are seeing multiple governments extend or strengthen their containment measures from quarantine requirements to travel restrictions, as well. but this, of course, is because of these really alarming numbers you mentioned, reported by multiple governments in the region. thousands on a daily basis. this corresponds to the low rate of vaccination in many of these places. still staying in single digits. this is really the problem facing many of their health care systems, as many of these medical facilities are being pushed to the brink. in malaysia, we have even seen thousands of doctors and nurses go on strike over to protest over the conditions. so it's really an alarming picture here as government here continues to face a shortage of vaccines.

rosemary? >> many thanks. we want to go to europe now and french cafes, restaurants and long distance trains are now off limits to those without the controversial health pass. the government is expanding the list of restrictions to try to contain a fourth covid wave. people must be fully vaccinated, have a recent negative test, or show that they have recovered from covid in order to get the health pass. but the measure continues to be met with anger and resistance. for the fourth straight weekend, hundreds of thousands protested the health pass, as well as a new mandate for caregivers to get vaccinated. still to come, the dixie fire explodes to become california's second biggest wildfire ever. why one state leader says these scenes will just keep playing

out if we don't take action on climate change. plus, wildfires are raging in greece, destroying thousands of acres of twisting forest, and displacing entire villages of people. we will have the latest, just ahead. ♪ ♪ oh, focaccia! ah, there's no place like panera. enjoy the toasty, saucy chipotle chicken avocado melt on freshly baked bread. panera. order on the app today. i've never slept like this before. we gave new zzzql pure zzzs restorative herbal sleep to peoplwho were tired of being tired. what is even in this? clinically-studied plant based ingredients passion flower, valerian root, and hops. new zzzquil pure zzzs restorative herbal sleep.

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without weighing it down. try pantene. firefighters are racing to contain the dixie wildfire in northern california. the fire is now the second largest in state history. it's burned through more than 750 square miles so far. to put that in context, the burned area is now more than three times the size of chicago. and right now, the fire is just 21% contained and still growing. while the exact cause of the dixie fire is still under investigation, california's governor says one thing is clear, climate change is making wildfire seasons worse. >> reporter: the smoke is thick and unhealthy. if you look behind me, you're

normally supposed to see a canyon. instead, you're seeing it filled with smoke. that smoke coming south from the dixie fire, and it's not only flooding this canyon but the communities nearby. the dixie fire has been burning almost a month, and we're seeing it growing, but we're not seeing much progress on containment. we are seeing the number of structures destroyed by this fire increasing. it's now at about 400 structures destroyed by this fire. the governor using this weekend to visit the town, and using the visit to talk about climate change. >> the extreme weather conditions, extreme droughts, leading to extreme conditions. and wildfire schajs, the likes of which we have never seen in our history, and we need to acknowledge straight up, these are climate induced wildfires. we have to acknowledge we have the capacity in this country, not just the state, so solve

this. >> reporter: and he did point to prevention, talked about things like managing the forest. but made it very clear that more needs to be done. he also thanked the 8500 men and women who are working to stop this fire. camilla burnell, cnn, paradise, california. wildfires in greece have been burning out of control for days. thousands of people have e evacuated their homes, some having to take ferries to safety. one woman said it's like a horror movie. across the country, fires have destroyed dozens of homes and businesses and at least one person has died. our reporter joins me now live. good to see you, linda. of course, it is a desperate situation in some parts of greece. what is the latest on these wildfires? >> reporter: the island here is right behind me, but it's so

covered in smoke that you can't see it. from this port is a ferry, a short ferry ride across. this is what we're waiting to do, to cross now. for a long time, the ferry services were not regular. we have been talking to some people on the other side, who are waiting to cross to the mainland. they're carrying everything they have in bags. they don't know if their homes have been saved. we have seen the first maps comes out, as well. they show the destruction on the island, this big part in the middle and north that seems to have been completely burned. we'll have the first assessments coming out shortly. more firefighting operations are under way on the island. and the greek prime minister has thanked the 22 countries that have been to greece's assistance and are operating along with the greek firefighting forces. now that the big fire in athens has been put out, all the operations with concentrate on this front. firefighters have been telling

us they hope that they mansage o put this fire out. and there are some other blazes in greece. we expect the temperatures to rise today and the winds to remain quite strong. >> what of those people who evacuated, where are they going? >> well rngs they say most of them are going to friends and family. the state has made provisions as well from football stadiums and other indoor spaces have now been turned into shelters effectively for people to go and stay until they can return to their homes or different plans are made for them, rosemary. >> it is a desperate situation for sure. many thanks. so let's talk more about the extreme heat, driving these fires with our meteorologist. so the pictures are just horrendous. are you seeing any relief at all

in sight for greece and turkey with these wildfires? >> there is potential for a change in the pattern thursday into friday. but the temperatures could drop off three, four degrees, close to seasonal averages. but it looks like the wind will pick up. you get a cooler temperature, the firefighters get a little help from mother nature. you see how the gusty winds have played out to scenarios like this across beautiful areas in greece in recent days. the i would here, the second largest in all of greece, about 80 kilometers north of athens. thousands of hectares have been consumed. you talk to people who visit this region or anywhere in greece, this is the island you want to go to. very beautiful landscape along the shores there, and it's become a scenario where

international help coming in, all offering a helping hand here. not with just manpower on the ground, but also with aircraft being offered up as well to provide assistance across portions of greece. but not just greece. notice the broader area here, this is the thermal signature of the fire. it is really widespread and rather uniform in all of europe. so the concern continues, the winds will want to pick up. but when you look at data and the amount of land that has been consumed by fire, over 220,000 hectares have beenconsumed. the average is 142 hectares. so if you think we are talking

about this, that is why. so we look at areas of cooler temperatures coming in later towards the week. it is going to come in with gusty winds. so that's the concern in places such as athens. the temperatures are now into the mid 30s. maybe we get you down into the low 30s. right around 87 to 89 degrees fahr fahrenheit. so the concern is that the fire could build beyond points the firefighters are trying to keep it at. >> thank you so much. appreciate you keeping us up to date on the situation. in italy, st. mark's square is seeing flooding. the area was inundated with nearly 40 inches of water on saturday. the head of the venice tide

center says this high tide is unusual for august. he says northern italy has seen extreme weather, including thunder and hailstorms. the u.n. l soon deliver its first full update on climate science since 2015. the intercontinental panel is expected to provide its most exclusive look at how human behavior is accelerating global warming, resulting in catastrophic consequences for the world. fireworks marked the end of the summer olympics in tokyo after the pandemic forced a one-year delay in the 2020 games. and with covid still very much in the spotlight, these were olympics unlike any other.

for two weeks, athletes competed in events that played out without spectators, as organizers worked to prevent an outbreak. when it was all said and done, team usa had the most gold medals and more medals than any other country for the third straight summer olympics. and our reporter who was there has more now from tokyo. >> reporter: the competition is over and the curtain has dropped. last night, tokyo 2020 took its final bow inside the national stadium. i spent all day yesterday outside the national stadium to witness the closing ceremony in person. like every event, it was a surreal experience, to sit inside the 68,000 seat stadium and watch the ceremony seemingly unalone. it was strange to watch

thousands of athletes come out on the field waving to essentially a couple hundred journalists. but throughout the night, you couldn't help what it would have been like to experience that. it's heartbreaking. this is not the olympic games that any one wanted. at the same time the celebration was taking place, on the outside, a protest was being held calling for the olympics and paralympics to be canceled. in fact, you could hear chants of cancel the olympics. while it wasn't a big protest, it was a reminder of the fierce opposition felt by a majority of the japanese people. a swift offensive raising major concerns. the provincial capitals that

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the taliban now control at least four pro-vin shall capitals in afghanistan, underscoring how afghan forces have relied on u.s. military power to hold the militants back. the taliban's push kicked into high gear when u.s. forces began their withdrawal in may. they seized rural areas first, but now they are going after major cities. a local official says most of

northern afghanistan fell on sunday. taliban video, which cannot be verified, purports to show a government compound after the militants took over. nick paton walsh has more on the setback for afghan forces. >> reporter: an unprecedented bad 72 hours for afghan security forces. startling to see the first big city fall to the taliban since the u.s. began their withdrawal. there is still fighting going on there. we understand afghan security forces are trying to push the taliban out. they've been successful twice in the last six years when the insurgency overran it for a brief period of time. they lost their first capital near the border with iran on friday. and two others appear to have fallen, possibly another as well, bringing a total of five

that may be under threat by the taliban or have fallen to them in the last 72 hours. i think the concern is that this is a sign of the momentum the insurgency have. the taliban have been quite powerful in the rural areas that are less populated. that's where they found themselves more easily to gain territory. but it's been cities that the afghan government have focused their security forces on. as we begin to see those cities fall to taliban, the security forces will feel overstretched is the concern. there's intense fighting going on in the south, in the province of he wlhelmand, so the concern think possibly is a sense of afghan security forces maybe being overstretched in the days and months ahead. u.s. air strikes in the past have successfully held the

taliban back when they moved into urban areas. it's so much harder to use them when it's in densely populated areas. in recent fighting, they have accused the taliban of hitting civilian targets. but startling to see the pace in which these four, possibly five key cities, including the first major city seem to be falling to the taliban. it is possibly reversible, but the sense of this momentum behind the insurgency, something which is new possibly unprecedented for the last 20 years. nick payton walsh, cnn, lobndon. >> the taliban offensive has led to a troubling number of civilian casualties in afghanistan. more than 1600 civilians were

killed in armed conflict in the first half of this year according to the united nations. that's the highest number of casualties since 2018 for the same time period. the u.n. warps the number of deaths could rise even further as the taliban sets its sights on more african cities. much more to come, including shocking testimony from two former trump administration officials on efforts to promote false election fraud claims in the department of justice. back in just a moment. strawber. panera. order on the app today.

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we are following new details in the sexual harassment scandal swirling around new york governor andrew cuomo. another one of his 11 accusers is now speaking publicly about her experience. an assistant to the governor says he gradually escalated his physical contact with her, and he took advantage of the power

imbalance between them in the workplace. she spoke to cbs "this morning" and the albany times newspaper. >> then there was hugs and kisses on the cheek. and then there was, at one point, a hug, and then he went to kiss me on the cheek, he quickly turned his head and kissed me on the lips. >> what did you say? >> i didn't say anything. i didn't say anything. i didn't say anything this whole time. people don't understand that this is the governor of the state of new york. there are troopers that are outside of the mansion, and there are the mansion staff. those troopers that are there, they're not there to protect me. they are there to protect him. >> governor cuomo denies any wrongdoing. in the meantime, state lawmakers will hear from impeachment

investigation members later today. >> reporter: new york governor andrew cuomo facing what will likely be another trying week. monday, legislators on the state's judiciary committee are expected to meet with independent investigators related to the impeachment probe. he has until this friday to offer evidence in his defense, an opportunity his personal lawyer insists was not provided before the release of the scathing report, in which several women accused him of unwelcome and nonconsensual touching, as well as making comments of a suggested sexual nature, adding to his troubles, the possibility of criminal charges. the sheriff's department confirmed it's investigating a complaint of behavior that was sexual in nature. >> i had a female victim come forward, which had to be the

hardest thing she's ever done in her life, and make an allegation of criminal conduct against the governor. >> reporter: known only as assistant number one, that female victim is speaking publicly, today with cbs previewing their conversation with one of the governor's current staffers coming forward to defend her account. >> the governor needs to be held accountable. >> just so i'm clear again, being held accountable to you means seeing the governor charged with a crime? >> what he did to me was a crime. he broke the law. >> reporter: the governor's attorney insists the claims are untrue, and in her saturday interview, glavine admitted the governor may have touched a state trooper. the report alleges he ran his fingers down her back standing behind her in an elevator. >> one thing i will say about

this trooper, i know the governor has tremendous respect for her, believes she's been an excellent member of her detail. and to the extent that she believes and felt he did anything that violated her was inappropriate, he feels very, very badly about that. that i do know and he will address this. >> reporter: exactly when that will be remains unclear. the governor has apologized to a handful of women who he recognized were made to feel uncomfortable because of behavior he insists was well intentioned. >> he does slip at times. he's not perfect. >> what do you mean by that? >> he said it in his video statements, which is that, you know, he does make the mistake. he will say darling, he will say sweet heart. he does ask people questions about their personal lives. he didn't think that was improper.

the u.s. senate is closer to passing the massive $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill after months of negotiations, the final hurdle to passing the bill was cleared on sunday when 18 republican senators joined democrats to end debate. the bill features $550 billion in new federal spending on roads, bridges, and passenger and freight rail. along with funding to expand broad band internet access. the final senate vote is expected early tuesday. after its expected passage, the bill goes back to the house where it faces an uncertain future. two former trump administration officials testified before senators this weekend about efforts to use the justice department to promote false voting fraud claims. climb and justice reporter has more. >> reporter: the senate judiciary committee made quick

work of getting on the record key leadership of the justice department at the end of the trump administration as they investigate how much president trump at the time was pressuring the leaders of the doj to substan chat his election fraud claims. so the number one and two people at the doj at the time both sat for very substantial interviews on friday and saturday. that's the ex-pacting deputy attorney general, richard donahue. on saturday, the number one person, the ex-acting attorney general, jeff rosen, he spoke for seven hours with the committee. and rosen specifically was talking about five key episodes where a su porbordinate of the men was trying to act out of the chain of command at the justice department to push election fraud claims that he held that were in line with president

trump's. now, it's an open question at this time whether jeff clark was acting on his own or taking specific directions from the white house. that is something we know the committees on the hill will be asking about. but what we did learn over the weekend after both of those interviews with donahue and rosen is that the senate judiciary committee chairman spoke to dana bash. he didn't provide details about new information that was shared, but he did have a key takeaway. here's what he told dana. >> just how directly personally involved the president was, the pressure he was putting on jeffrey rosen. it was real. very real. and it was very specific. this president is not subtle when he wants something, the former president. he's not subtle when he wants something. and i think it's a good thing for america that we had a person like rosen in that position who withstood the pressure. >> reporter: he says the committee wants to talk to jeff

clark in the coming weeks. my sources told me over the weekend that he has been in talks with capitol hill about a potential interview. back to you. >> thanks for that report. joining me now is a professor of government at the university of essex. thank you for talking with us. >> thanks for having me. >> so not to cover, but first, the senatery reconvenes at noon today, with a vote set for early tuesday. how significant is it that republicans are poised to help joe biden pass his massive infrastructure bill? and what might this mean politically? >> this is definitely significant, because the u.s. senators have been very much in line with president trump on most things. this is an opportunity for them to break with him, and we think there will be about 20 senators

willing to do so. this is one of the key policies of the biden administration. he really wants to get this infrastructure bill passed. it is popular, and i think that's hs why you have senators breaking rank with trump. and deciding to vote with biden. they know it is popular and badly needed. and it's also not going to be paid for by raising taxes. so there are a few holdoutsdela this looks like it will get through because it is overwhelmingly popular. >> we'll be watching those speeches at noon, of course. we are also seeing a very disturbing trend in the republican states of florida and texas, where both governors refuse to mandate masks in public places, including schools. or to mandate vaccines for all hospital staff. how dangerous sit when you see leaders allowing politics to

intrude in public health policies and what might the consequences be? >> i mean, this is an incredibly dangerous. the biggest worry is if we have one in three new covid cases in texas and florida, we're seeing a rise in cases, huge surge in hospitalizations. and the biggest worry is there could be a new variant that gets created. we see how deadly and dangerous the delta variant is. that's one of the things you're trying to stop by enforcing mask mandates. but by also encouraging people to get vaccinated. instead, greg abbott of texas, the governor of texas, and ron desantis, the governor of florida, are being idiotic. in fact, they are banning local governments from employing the type of covid safety measures that these states badly need. for example, they're banning schools from trying to have some sort of contract tracing in the case of texas.

and ron desantis was even trying to get cruise ships to ban vaccination measure to prevent the spread of covid on ships. so we're seeing really dangerous behavior. and ron desantis is trying to distract his citizens by saying well, we should be focusing on all the illegal immigration happening at the moment. so they're really trying to may into the hands of these anti-vaxers or the trump supporters. and not really looking at the big picture how dangerous this is for the health of their constituents. >> yeah, it does seem self-defeating, doesn't it? and another issue we're looking at in testimony this weekend, the acting attorney general for former president donald trump, jeffrey rosen, revealed what's being called frightening activity at the justice department in the waning days of the administration involving a senior doj lawyer who sought to use the department's resources

to support voting fraud claims by president trump. what could the political ramifications of this be, do you think? >> it's interesting, because there have been so many devastating things revealed about the way trump and others have tried to undermine democracy. we keep seeing new evidence of this, and it doesn't seem to have a huge impact on trump's base. but it should really frighten us that trump has tried to use his deputies or people who work under him or people loyal to him to pursue these conspiracy theorys and to get the states to try to overturn the election results. it really scares me, because this is what dictators do. and unless the republican party decides at some point they need to break with him, which they haven't done yet as we have seen, we are hoping there will be some other opportunities in the future, and to understand

that he is an autocrat. and what would happen if this were to be on the other side if democrats were going to try to overturn state election results. elections are all we have in a democracy. this is the key aspect to any democracy. so we're hoping that these more egregious story also turn the tide amongst republican elite. it hasn't happened yet. >> indeed. many thanks. and we'll be right back. you need an ecolab scientific clean here. and here. which is why the scientific expertise that helps operating rooms stay clean now helps the places you go too. look for the ecolab science certified seal.

after china's successful showing at the tokyo games, beijing is hoping to build on that momentum when it hosts the winter games in less than six months. but with that spotlight also comes renewed pressure and scrutiny on the communist regime. cnn's david colver reports. >> reporter: a surge of chinese pride in tokyo. chinese athletes bringing home the second highest number of gold medals, just narrowly losing to the united states but setting the world stage for a fierce competition in february's winter olympic games in beijing. china hoping for a show stopping repeat of 2008.

that was china's ceremonial stepping out onto the world stage, hosting the summer olympics in beijing and a moment many expected would lead to a further opening up of the country. the games were a muzmerizing production revealing china's potential to rival the west in athletic competition and beyond. but since 2008 under the ruling communist party and its increasingly powerful leader xi jinping, the peoples republic has not only seen its economy soar but also a rapid build up and flexing of its military and cyber might making countries like the u.s. increasingly uneasy. in less than six months the olympics are set to return to beijing, and you can expect china to impress once again starting with its hardware. cnn was recently invited to visit some of the olympic venues. china building big and fast well ahead of schedule. >> look around you've got the buildings up where, the

brandings up inside. they're pretty much done. the only thing they're waiting on are the athletes. >> reporter: dramatic backdrops for the events with sweeping mountain views. >> of course as you look out the venue is going to look a bit different come winter. this will all ideally be covered in white. >> reporter: italian engineers working years in advance to bring the snowy alps to asia and china making a big environmental promise. these will be the first games in which all the competition venues will be fueled 100% by green energy. >> we're on top of one of it slopes. as you look out and you pan across you can see dozens of windmills. beyond that, solar panels. but there are chilling realities that threaten to overshadow these games. extreme containment measures while seemingly effective aren't exactly welcoming to the rest of the world.

>> we will continue to press china. >> reporter: china is also facing mounting pressure over the investigation into the origins of the virus, which has claimed more than 4 million lives worldwide. and then there are the growing calls for countries to boycott beijing for alleged human rights abuses, specifically its treatment of uigyhar muslims which begs the question even with all the expected pageantry and performance in the upcoming beijing winter games, can china change how the world views the emerging super power? >> and thanks so much for joining us this hour. i'm rosemary church. i'll be back with more news after a short break. do stay with us.

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♪ the barnes firm injury attorneys ♪ ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪ hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the united states and all around the world. you are watching "cnn newsroom." and i'm rosemary church. just ahead, the taliban celebrate another key victory in afghanistan and issue a warning to the u.s. covid cases hit a six-month high once again pushing america's hospitals to breaking point. and ferocious flames, thousands of firefighters struggle to gain the upper hand as california's dixie fire grows to the second largest in state